Spark

A few days later, South Africa, Johannesburg.

Hu Wanyou sat in the office of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, quietly waiting for the next meeting.

He is the representative of China Metallurgical Corporation, and this time he was appointed by the Civil Affairs Office to come to South Africa, with the purpose of negotiating with the South African side about the exploration of gold mines in the Evande-Baihe area.

There was a habitual calm smile on his face, but in fact, his heart was not as calm as he showed.

the reason is simple.

This time, the prospect of the mining area they were going to take was too uncertain.

He is a veteran who has been immersed in the gold mining industry for more than 30 years. He was originally from geological exploration, and later took over the global investment work of CCID.

It can be said that he cannot be said to have a 100% understanding of all the gold mine veins in this world, but at least he can reach 80%.

Among them, his research on South African gold mines is far better than other gold mines.

In his opinion, does Baihe have mines?

there must be.

It is located in the Kapval Archaic Craton, and it is also on the extension line of the Rand main vein. If you say that there is no mine at all, no one will believe it.

But how many are there?

You must know that the Baihe area is already on the edge of the craton. According to general experience, the gold reserves in such places will not be too rich.

In other words, not rich.

Moreover, not only is it not rich, but it is also extremely difficult to mine, because most of the edges of the cratons are rigid rock formations, and its texture is very hard, which is far less easy to mine than those sandstone terrains.

If this mining area is really exchanged for a high-speed rail project worth more than 30 billion yuan, it is estimated that South African officials will laugh out loud, right?

So, who gave the domestic decision makers the confidence to make such a judgment?

Hu Wanyou shook his head and didn't continue to think about it.

He looked at Li Jing who was sitting on the side, and asked:

"Xiao Jing, are you confident this time?"

Although the two of them do not work in the same company, they are regarded as seniors and acquaintances, so Hu Wanyou's tone is relatively casual.

Hearing his question, Li Jing shook her head and replied:

"The only thing we are sure of is that there must be gold mines in that area."

"However, the amount of reserves and the level of grade can only be determined after further exploration is completed."

"This is a bit of a gamble in it. If we can discover the gold mine first, we will have a greater say in the subsequent negotiations on mining rights—or in other words, we may not be able to get it directly."

"At least, we don't need to compete with the Bombera consortium anymore, it's just our business with the Ministry of Mines."

Hu Wanyou sighed lightly, and said in agreement:

"So, actually for all of us, the picture is clear."

"And, compared to what you said, the situation this time is actually more serious."

"Prospecting rights and mining rights are issued simultaneously, and we can only do so without regret."

"That's right."

The two looked at each other with worried looks in their eyes.

At this moment, the door of the office opened, and the key person they had been waiting for finally arrived.

The person who came was Carver, the Minister of Mines and Energy of South Africa. He will be in charge of the gold mine part of this "exchange". Next, the negotiations between the two parties will completely determine the bargaining chips in this exchange.

The first time he saw Carver, Hu Wanyou immediately stood up and greeted him with his signature smile.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Carver."

"Good afternoon, everything."

Carver spoke in not-so-fluent Chinese.

Afterwards, he opened the chair behind the desk and sat down. While arranging the documents still scattered on the desk, he said:

"I heard that you have already made a decision on the selection of the exploration area?"

Hu Wan nodded and replied:

"Yes, according to the instructions of the superior, we have already determined the mining area that we want to exchange."

"Oh, that's nice."

Carver's tone was calm, but it vaguely revealed an unquestionable majesty.

"However, before officially starting the exchange, I want to give you a piece of advice."

"Don't be too greedy."

"You know, I just finished negotiating with the Bombera consortium, and to tell you the truth, they don't want much."

"They only applied to us for prospecting rights in some areas of West Rand, covering some small ore veins on the west side of the current Rand main mine lode."

"According to the estimates of professional institutions, the total value of this mining area is about 1.5 billion US dollars --- this is the total price they proposed."

"You know, they have no intention of asking us for a penny for the construction of the Gauteng High Speed ​​Rail."

"We can get a loan from their bank and the only thing we have to pay for 20 years is the interest charges."

Hearing his words, Hu Wanyou's eyes narrowed slightly.

Although he has not been exposed to projects like high-speed rail, he has actually done a lot of large-scale mining infrastructure projects and is familiar with the financing process.

So he knew as soon as he heard it that the Bombera consortium used this time can be said to be the most aggressive quotation method.

The loan is provided in full, and the loan period is extremely long. Within 20 years, the principal will not be repaid but the interest will be repaid.

On the whole, such a quotation can almost be said to be a loss quotation.

The only thing that can make money, apart from the follow-up maintenance and expansion work, are those few small gold mines.

And the gold mines they invest in South Africa also need to pay the South African government money and taxes.

——

Win-win? No, it was South Africa that won.

Under such conditions, the other party's favorability towards the Bombera Consortium can almost be said to be full.

But fortunately, this is not something Hu Wanyou needs to consider.

He didn't hesitate, but said directly:

"The conditions in this regard, I think my colleagues from China Railway Group will discuss with you."

"My job is just to be in charge of throwing out our choice of mines."

"Then tell me and listen."

Carver said without looking up.

In fact, he has given up hope that Huaxia will take over the Gauteng high-speed rail project.

The Bombera consortium's offer is so low, even if Huaxia follows it to the end, at most it will be the same as them.

But in the case of the same quotation, why should we choose Huaxia?

It is true that their technology is equally advanced, but after all, they have not experienced the experience of large-scale projects. In terms of maturity, they are definitely not as good as Bombardier like the Bombera consortium.

However, since the two parties have communicated before, even out of politeness, they have to listen to their quotations.

Carver secretly made up his mind, and when Hu Wanyou said the mining area they wanted, he immediately refused.

After all, he knew that the value of the site the other party wanted would not be too low, otherwise it would be impossible to make up for their loss in the high-speed rail project.

However, the next second, after Hu Wanyou opened his mouth, he froze in place.

"We want prospecting and mining rights in the Evander-White River area."

Carver finally put down the document in his hand, and then, looking directly into Hu Wanyou's eyes, he asked in disbelief:

"What?"

"Say it again, where do you want?"

"We lost the bid!"

In the office of the Bombera Consortium, the commercial director of Bombardier said heavily.

Just a few hours ago, they received the results of the opening of the Gauteng High Speed ​​Rail project.

——

Although this is not a completely standardized and standard bidding, there is no doubt that the result is also unchangeable.

And this unchangeable result is that Huaxia has won the construction rights of the Gauteng high-speed rail, and China Railway Corporation is responsible.

As soon as he received the news, he immediately used all the resources at hand to confirm whether there was room for recovery, but the answers he got were all negative.

Afterwards, he asked someone to inquire about Huaxia's bidding conditions, trying to make himself clearer.

But just after inquiring about it, he was completely stunned.

Not only did the other party maintain the same quotation and loan policy as their own in terms of business, but they were cruel in terms of gold mining rights, which should have been an important condition, and only wanted an area with an extremely low valuation!

Evander-White River area.

There are indeed gold mines in that area, both from historical records and field surveys.

But is it really worth that much money?

The Sealand area proposed by our side is worth 1.5 billion US dollars, but what about the Evander-White River area?

It's not bad if it's worth $300 million!

Making such a choice illustrates only one problem:

The Huaxia people are bound to win the Gauteng high-speed rail project.

They don't even care about losing money. Their purpose is to get this ticket and gamble on the profits of the subsequent expansion plan.

Such a strategy is probably too aggressive.

The person in charge of Bombardier sighed heavily. He looked around the venue for a week, and then continued:

"At present, there is no room for redemption."

"The project cooperation has not been reached, and our mission has failed. What we need to solve now is how to report to the management."

"I think everyone is very clear that in order to win this project, investors from Wall Street have invested a huge amount of money in us."

"But now, all that has come to naught."

"I hope you can give me a reasonable explanation."

Hearing his words, someone raised his hand in the middle of the conference room and said:

"We probably don't need an explanation."

The person in charge shifted his gaze to him and asked:

"Why?"

The man replied calmly:

"Because, under Huaxia's offer, no company or investor in this world can compete with them."

"We need to understand that we want to win this project to make a profit, not to beat them."

"Now, since they have chosen a solution that is completely unprofitable, what's the point of competing with them?"

"This is very simple logic. I think our investors will never blame us for such absurd 'failure'."

Hearing his words, the person in charge was taken aback for a moment.

Afterwards, his heart suddenly became clear.

yes.

I am just a businessman, and I was not given too many so-called "strategic" considerations when carrying out the investor's tasks.

The decision you make is correct no matter how you look at it.

So, what do you need to worry about?

What should be worried is probably the China Railway Group, which is about to face a major loss, and the Chinese officials behind them.

Not long after, in May Club's office.

Houston looked at the report in front of him with satisfaction, with a smile of "conspiracy succeeded" on his face.

He looked at the assistant on the opposite side, and while smoking a cigar, he said:

"This time, we finally won a game against them."

"They probably thought that the Gauteng High Speed ​​Rail expansion project would recover their losses."

"It's a pity that they don't know at all, it's just a lie!"

The assistant on the opposite side nodded slightly. Although there was no expression on his face, deep down in his heart, he was actually as proud as Houston.

After several months, or even years of planning, with the help of capital and public opinion, they finally made the Gauteng high-speed rail project very popular.

In the eyes of almost all investors in the world, this project is the starting point of a large-scale high-speed rail project in Africa. Not to mention other countries, as long as this high-speed rail project is completed, South Africa is bound to continue to promote high-speed rail construction. The large-scale expansion will make The first construction party to enter the market earns a lot of money.

This was originally a smooth and correct logic.

But the premise of correct logic is that the project is real.

But the problem is, the project is not real!

In other words, the real part only accounts for a small part of the propaganda.

Yes, South Africa is indeed going to build the Gauteng High Speed ​​Rail.

However, the purpose of this high-speed rail construction is not at all to stimulate the economy of the entire country and shorten the distance between cities as advertised.

Instead, as a business card of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, use the most quick and quick way to obtain the greatest publicity results, so as to attract more capital to enter South Africa!

In essence, the Gauteng high-speed rail project has the same purpose as the Los Angeles-San Francisco high-speed rail project.

The Los Angeles project at least has real social significance, but the Gauteng high-speed rail has no other value except to attract more people.

And now, the Huaxia people have become the first to be taken advantage of

Thinking of this, the assistant said:

"The Chinese once said that there should be nine truths and one falsehood in lies."

"In this operation, we finally grasped the core."

"I have to say that in some respects, their wisdom is indeed amazing."

"It's just that they may not have imagined that such wisdom will eventually harm themselves"

"That's what they deserve!"

Houston spit out the tobacco leaves in his mouth, and said with a little disdain.

During this period of time, he has been shrouded in Huaxia's shadow for too long.

Now, he finally had a chance to feel proud, and he didn't intend to restrain himself any longer.

Although it only made them pay a small price, but also let everyone in this world see their failure.

Otherwise, who can I talk to about my careful layout?

So, after thinking for a moment, he said:

"Notify the various media and let them release the news."

"Make it public that Huaxia won the Gauteng high-speed rail project."

"As for the keywords"

"Aid construction, charity."

"That's right, just these two!"

There is a power outage, I will write again tomorrow.

Three chapters of 12,000 words will be updated tomorrow.